Governors Greg Abbott in Texas and Ron DeSantis in Florida are following the playbook of segregationists who provided one-way bus tickets to Northern cities for Black Southerners in the 1960s. Plantation owners controlled the process, frequently using it to cheat workers out of their earnings and keep them perpetually in debt. Strict eligibility requirements and arbitrary administration of state public assistance programs excluded many Black families from receiving aid. Political and economic motivationsThe motivations behind these policies were both political and economic. White racists understood that providing assistance to displaced workers would encourage Black people to stay in the South.

Source: Washington Post September 21, 2022 19:39 UTC